Accepting the Unacceptable When God Explains Nothing

Introduction

The phone that rings, news that freezes you, a diagnosis that lands, a loss that cuts you down. There are moments when something becomes physically impossible to take in, when your own mind refuses the news. Samuel MABBOUX calls this "the unacceptable": events God never originally wanted, but that he allows in your life. And on this particular morning, he invites you to a radical inner shift. Set aside your "why, Lord" and replace it with "Lord, I trust you." Not because you understand, but because you choose to trust the One who understands everything.

Outline

1. Abraham, or the unacceptable coming from God

• In Genesis 22, God asks Abraham for his son Isaac (his only son, the one he loves, the son of the promise) as a burnt offering.
• Nothing could be more unacceptable. And yet, verse 3 says: "Abraham rose up early in the morning and went."
• Samuel MABBOUX points this out: Abraham doesn't argue, doesn't ask God to repeat himself, doesn't know how the story ends. He obeys.
• You have the right not to understand God's plans. But doubting him is another matter entirely. Trust the Lord, even when it makes no sense.

2. Pray as though he will, accept that he might not

• There are trials God doesn't want to remove right away. Pray as though he's going to remove it, but accept that he might not do so instantly.
• Don't make your worship, your praise, or your service conditional on what God does or doesn't do. Praise him for who he is, not only for what he gives you.
• There is no praise more beautiful than the one that rises in the middle of a trial, when God has removed nothing and you sing anyway.
• Like the Shunammite woman in 2 Kings 4, able to say "all is well" even though her son lay dead in the room: not denial, but because God remains in control.

3. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego: real faith

• Facing the furnace, Daniel's three friends don't say "we know God will deliver us." They say: "We know he can, but even if he doesn't, we will not bow down."
• Samuel MABBOUX drives the point home: it isn't faith if you already know God will deliver you. Faith begins when you hold your ground even in front of the furnace.
• Daniel was saved. John the Baptist, just as great, was beheaded. Of the eleven apostles (setting Judas aside), only one died of old age. And yet, in their deaths, they glorified God.
• Sanctification and consecration don't grant you immunity. They anchor you in the One who walks with you through it.

4. Stephen: seeing glory beneath the stones

• In Acts 4:24-31, the church prays after the first arrests. They don't ask for protection, they ask for boldness to proclaim the word.
• A few chapters later, Stephen is stoned (Acts 7). God could have stopped the stones (a wall, an angel), it would have cost him no more than showing Stephen his glory. But he chose glory instead.
• Stephen "saw the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God." He's no longer looking at the stones, he's looking at Christ.
• He dies on his knees, praying for his executioners: "Lord, don't hold this sin against them," and falls asleep. God didn't protect him, but he was right there beside him.

5. Job, or surrendering before God

• Job loses everything (children, possessions, health), and spends most of the book defending himself: "I am righteous, I don't deserve this" (Job 27:6).
• Isaiah 45 warns: "Woe to him who strives with his Maker!" The clay doesn't ask the potter "what are you doing?"
• From Job 38 to 41, God puts Job in his place: "Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?"
• And Job answers: "I know that you can do all things... I have uttered that which I did not understand, things too wonderful for me" (Job 42:1-6). It's at that moment that God restores him and blesses him twice over.

6. Jesus accepted the unacceptable for you

• Isaiah 53:4: "Surely he has borne our sicknesses, and carried our suffering."
• Isaiah 53:10: "Yet it pleased Yahweh to bruise him. He has caused him to suffer."
• If Christ accepted the unacceptable for you, you can accept the unacceptable that God allows for you.
• Even God's unacceptable is always better than your own will.

Key takeaways

• There's a difference between what God wants and what God allows. Both remain under his control.
• Praying "Lord, heal me" and "Lord, your will be done" aren't contradictory: faith holds both together.
• Don't build your relationship with God on his blessings. Worship him for who he is, or the first trial will crack it.
• Sanctification and immunity aren't the same thing. John the Baptist and Stephen were consecrated, God didn't spare them physically, he walked with them all the way through.
• Your place isn't standing up to negotiate, but kneeling before God. Surrendering isn't losing, it's letting God reign.
• The salvation of souls remains the priority of your prayers, even before healing. God isn't a healer for healing's sake: he heals, but everything he does aims at eternity.

Personal application

1. What situation in your life right now has you saying "Lord, why are you allowing this?" and what would you say if you replaced that "why" with "I trust you"?
2. Can you praise God right now, before the trial lifts, or are you waiting for him to act before you worship him again?
3. Where, without realizing it, are you justifying yourself before God like Job, pleading your own merits instead of surrendering?
4. Among the people around you, whose salvation should concern you even more than their health?
5. If you had to write a prayer in the spirit of Acts 4:29 ("grant to your servants to speak your word with all boldness"), what would you ask God for instead of protection?

Scripture references

• Genesis 22 (the sacrifice of Isaac)
• 1 Corinthians 10:13
• 2 Kings 4 (the Shunammite woman)
• Daniel 3 (Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego)
• Acts 4:24-31
• Acts 7:55-60 (Stephen)
• Job 27:6
• Job 38-42
• Isaiah 45:9
• Isaiah 53:4,10
• 2 Corinthians 12 (Paul's thorn)

Frequently asked questions

Why does God allow trials he could take away?

Samuel MABBOUX draws a line between what God originally wants and what he allows. He could remove sickness with a single word, but he sometimes chooses to leave the trial in place for a time he himself has set. 1 Corinthians 10:13 promises he will never let you be tempted beyond your strength, and he will prepare a way of escape.

How do you pray when God doesn't heal?

Pray with all your heart, believing God can remove the trial, but add: "Even if you don't, I will praise you and serve you just the same." That's the prayer of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego before the furnace: "Our God can deliver us, but even if he doesn't, we will not bow down to you."

What do you do when your "why, Lord" gets no answer?

Samuel MABBOUX suggests replacing "why" with "Lord, I trust you." Job first tried to justify himself, but when God put him in his place (Job 38-42), he admitted: "I have uttered that which I did not understand, things too wonderful for me." That's the moment God restored him and blessed him more than before.